PRESS DIGEST- New York Times business news - Oct 23

Oct 23 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories on the New York Times business pages. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

* Figures for unemployment and job creation in October and November will be skewed by the temporary disappearance of hundreds of thousands of government workers and contractors, economists say. ()

* A Labor Department report showing lackluster hiring in September - 148,000 jobs - is expected to further put off the Federal Reserve's decision to reduce its stimulus efforts. ()

* Apple applications, which essentially duplicate Microsoft Office and used to cost $10 each, will now be free to anyone who buys a new Apple device. ()

* A federal judge has ruled that Goldman Sachs must pay the legal fees of a former computer programmer, Sergey Aleynikov, accused of stealing code from the bank. ()

* SAC Capital Advisors will close its London office and cut six portfolio management teams in the United States, the hedge fund's management revealed. ()

* Amazon.com Inc is expected to generate $75 billion in revenue this year by putting its customers first. Tuesday, in a very rare move, it put its bottom line first by tightening the requirements for one of its most popular shipping methods, Super Saver Shipping, which for over a decade mailed items free as long as the order met a $25 threshold. The new threshold is $35. ()

* Federal gridlock over the debt ceiling could adversely affect the bottom lines of big Wall Street banks and firms, a report by Thomas DiNapoli, the New York State comptroller, asserts. ()

* The Internal Revenue Service plans to delay the start of tax-filing season by a week or two because of the government shutdown, the agency said on Tuesday. But taxpayers will still have to turn in their 2013 returns by April 15 as usual. ()

* A class-action suit by delivery workers at The Worcester Telegram & Gazette prompted a judge to issue a temporary injunction preventing the sale of The Boston Globe. ()

* A recent court case has given the federal government a chance to sidestep Congress and eliminate private equity's billion-dollar tax break. The question is whether the Obama administration takes up the fight. ()